Page 61 of Quiet as Kept
“Our friends and family are gonna feel like royalty.”
“Speaking of feeling, how are you feeling today? Is little Hi treating you kindly today?” I was convinced that Yahirah was carrying another version of herself—a little girl with a feisty attitude and a big heart.
“She is.” She touched her own stomach lightly. “This is the best I’ve felt in weeks.”
The party planner joined us. “Good morning, ladies.”
“Hello.”
“Hey.”
“The guests are scheduled to start arriving in a little less than two hours.” She turned to Yahirah. “How about we start working on hair and makeup?”
“Okay,” Yahirah agreed, grabbing my hand and threading her fingers through mine.
I rested my head on my best friend’s shoulder. “You ready to celebrate your union to Ayden?”
“I am.”
The reception was everything. When they reevaluated the big wedding, they had obviously reevaluated having a large reception as well. They’d kept the guest list small, consisting mostly of family and a few cherished friends. The guests danced, drank, and ate well. The backyard was filled with laughter, love, and genuine happiness. Adults conversed while children played impromptu games. Dakota and Destin had the time of their lives running around endlessly and also being spoiled by everybody they were related to by blood.
As the party wound down, Yahirah and Ayden disappeared into the chauffeur-driven car that Kept arranged for them and headed for a night at a luxury hotel in Buckhead. Yahirah didn’ttrust that she would feel well enough to endure a plane ride, so they were saving their honeymoon for another time.
Kept, Mama Reese, Nehemiah, and I attended to the last of the guests then turned the breakdown of the vendor set-ups and clean up of the backyard over to the event planner and her team.
The five of us with the addition of Trinity, Cecily, Gannon, and Vivienne all crashed on the sofa in Yahirah and Ayden’s neutrally decorated living room.
“They had an afternoon reception. It’s only six o’clock, but I’m exhausted!” Trinity exclaimed.
“Me too, but it sure was a nice party,” Vivienne agreed.
“It definitely was, and the food was absolutely delicious,” Cecily added.
“It was, but I’m hungry again,” Nehemiah told her with a sheepish smile.
Cecily stood from the sofa. “We’re gonna head out. I need to feed the big guy so we can get to the hotel and get some sleep. Our plane leaves first thing tomorrow morning. And no offense to y’all because we love you, but we have burned up almost all of our vacation time this year messing with you guys. We both have to be back at work on Monday.”
We all laughed because she was telling the truth. Between Dakota’s birthday, Mama Reese’s surgery, the birthday trip they took to Las Vegas, and the reception, they had missed several days from work.
“Who has the key to lock up?” Nehemiah asked.
“I do,” Mama Reese informed him. “I’m sleeping here tonight, housesitting if you will. My flight doesn’t leave until Monday. The rest of you can head out. Oh, and I’m keeping my girls with me. Xari, you and Kept go experience some of Atlanta. It’s my gift to you for planning my daughter’s reception when she couldn’t do it. You two did a phenomenal job.”
Everybody agreed with her as hugs were passed between all of us.
“You sure about keeping the girls?” I questioned.
“I’m positive.” Mama Reese insisted. “I already have the free-range chicken nuggets.”
We all laughed.
“I’ll give them a bath. We’ll watch a movie. We’ll eat our chicken nuggets. Then we’ll go to sleep.”
Kept and I hugged and kissed the girls like we were going off to war, then we left the house. We walked to the rented truck hand in hand. Kept unlocked the truck’s door for me.
“You hungry?”
“Not really, but let’s explore the city for a little while.”